I might have spoken too soon yesterday. I’ve finally arrived at a Joni Mitchell album that even her die-hard fans have a hard time defending.
1979’s Mingus, Mitchell’s 10th studio album, is the culmination of her jazz phase. A collaboration with jazz great Charles Mingus released just after his death, the album features two songs written by Mitchell and four with lyrics by Mitchell and music by Mingus. The other five “rap” tracks include snippets of studio banter.
Joni Mitchell continued her torrid pace in 1977, releasing her ninth album in 10 years. This one was a doozy.
Every major artist seems to have at least one grab bag double album in them, and Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter was Mitchell’s. This hour-long opus features only ten songs, including the 16-minute epic ‘Paprika Plains,’ which ran for the entirety of Side Two.
The record dived even deeper into her fascination with jazz fusion, and features contributions from celebrated jazz musicians, most notably bassist Jaco Pastorius and other members of his band Weather Report.
I’ve seen a lot of fans name 1976’s Hejira, Joni Mitchell’s eighth album, as their favorite of her releases. And I get it. This is a lush, emotional, warm record, brimming with great poetry and beautiful music.
But it’s also a bit of a chore. The nine-song cycle runs over 50 minutes, with multiple tracks topping the six-minute mark. None of the songs have traditional choruses, just four or five (or six) long meandering verses. This album requires you to either pay very close attention or pay no attention at all.
Joni Mitchell continued her musical evolution with the release of The Hissing of Summer Lawns in 1975, just a year after Court and Spark. This album furthered her push into jazz-inflected pop and world rhythms, miles away from the simplicity of ‘Both Sides Now.’
On the brash, aggressive ‘The Jungle Line,’ Mitchell is credited with the first-ever sample, using a recording of African drummers as the bed for her impressionistic lyrics. That percussive track stands apart from the rest of the album, which has a smooth R&B quality. Some of these songs would feel at home on a Steely Dan album.
Continuing my exploration of Joni Mitchell’s career, I’ve arrived at her sixth album, 1974’s classic Court and Spark. This remains Mitchell’s most popular album. It reached #1 in her native Canada and #2 in the United States.
This is also the first album where Mitchell utilizes the vocal tic that long turned me off of her music. On several of these tracks, she slides her voice in a way that reminds me of Dory’s whalespeak in Finding Nemo and totally loses me.
Meet Me In Montauk 